Monday, June 29, 2009

Asleep at the wheel...

Portugal? My last entry was Portugal? Arrghh...Ok well after a long absence (was it writer's block or mere laziness?) I return to the foray of blogging...actually having received several comments from people as to why I had grown silent...They didn't actually say that they missed my posts but I am going to hope for the best...

WOW! So much has happened these past months! We have lost Michael Jackson...Farrah Fawcett...ummm...Ed McMahon...and just now I read that Billy Mays died in his sleep...

...now you have to love a world where a guy like Billy Mays can become a celebrity with his own Discovery channel show...countless infomercials...contracts...he really makes me proud to be involved in teaching entrepreneurship...and I really am not mocking here because it is an inspirational story...born to a modest background he was a college dropout from Pittsburg and worked for his father's hazardous waste company...moving to New Jersey (wow, there is a rich vein of material I could work with there knowing a few dear folks from NJ)...and learned how to sell from the rough cut old timers at the boardwalk on Atlantic City...all of this is true...

...What you have to love about the field of entrepreneurship and small business is that it is the authentic equal opportunity venue without the government intrusion...it matters little if you are a PHD or barely made it through grade school...male or female...black or white...in fact the two most identifiable characteristics of entrepreneurs is that it clearly runs in the family, meaning that if your parents or relatives were entrepreneurs it is likely that you will be as well (didn't really work in my own case, but you know, I was always exceptional...a very special bus came to pick me up each day to go to school...the other kids called it "the short bus"...but I liked the seats and the seat belts...kind of felt like Disneyland)...

Well the other key factor of being an entrepreneur is being from a rural area...yepper...none of that "Siliconvalleyangelinvestorhightechturbomaster5000harvardstanfordbluebloodinghighfallutingstuff" for the entrepreneur...if you don't believe me read the book "The Illusions of Entrepreneurship"by Scott Shane to prove my point...

...I guess the impression that entrepreneurs come from or gravitate towards Silicon Valley is pretty much the media's fault...because it is much more interesting to talk about the guy who invented the latest nanotechnology item than Jose and Maria who just opened their fourteenth dry cleaning shop, cleaning the clock of everyone in the region by providng great service at good prices...operationally excellent, intimate with their customers, and leading in products (sounds like a Harvahhd B School article)...Silicon Valley is much sexier than the San Joaquin Valley...but all that does is give Jose and Maria a bigger head start...but I digress once again...

So where have I been hiding these past months? Well the short answer (from the guy from the short bus) is that I have been very very very busy...and focused on some other issues of reading and writing...I have successfully finished a journal article that I just submitted to that venerable academic publications "Camping World" and "Highlights" for their consideration...let's think happy thoughts here...and after I receive the rejection letter from them in the coming months I will send it around to som.e other avenues...so that took time away from blogging...as well as teaching responsibilities and some extended research into international entrepreneurship which is a lot of work but very enjoyable as well...so I am very sorry about the delay...

...and if anyone would like to see the recently completed paper on social entrepreneurship just let me know...Billy Mays was going to pitch it for me but I am back to square one now...

...I promise to return soon and regale the masses with more insight on the business world,politics, observations and of course, some gracious commentary on the loss of Michael Jackson...so stay tuned...